Ms. Karina Arifin (Head of Laboratory of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia)

Obtained Ph.D in Archaeology with a Thesis of Early Human Occupation of the East Kalimantan Rainforest in 2004 from Australian National University, Australia, she is currently working as the Head of Laboratory of Archaeology, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia. Her main interest is in prehistory and rock art in which she has written a number of papers and a book “Rock Art in West Papua” in collaboration with P. Delanghe: published by UNESCO in 2004. Before her current post, she was the Coordinator of the Undergraduate Studies, Department of Archaeology, Faculty of Humanities at University of Indonesia from 2004 to 2006.

Ms. Pernille Askerud (Consultant for Culture)

Studied Nordic Philology from 1978 to 1986 and Applied Linguistic from 1984 to 1986 at University of Copenhagen, Denmark in Master Degree, she is currently in Bhutan as consultant to UNIDO for the planning and implementation of a cultural industries sector development programme and for supporting the Ministry of Home and Cultural Affairs Bhutan in the mainstreaming of new training areas and business development services in support of cluster development for creative industries. She has specialized in research and organizational development, especially in terms of institutional capacity building, and the identification of policies and project design. She was the lead consultant for UNESCO Bangkok’s programme on cultural industries in Asia-Pacific from 2002 to 2009.

Mr. Steven Bird (Associate Professor for Department of Computer Science and Software Engineering, University of Melbourne)

Studied Cognitive Science at University of Edinburgh, UK for Doctoral Degree in 1991, he is currently working as Associate Professor for Department of Computer Science Engineering, University of Melbourne and as Senior Research Associate for Linguistic Data Consortium, University of Pennsylvania. Prior to this current position, he was the Associate Director of Linguistic Data Consortium, Adjunct Associate Professor of Computer and Information Science and Adjunct Associate Professor of Linguistics at University of Pennsylvania from 1998 to 2002 and previously he was a Research Fellow for Center for Cognitive Science, University of Edinburgh between 1990 and 1998.

Mr. Richard Chauvel (Professor for School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Victoria University, Australia)

Studied School of Oriental and African Studies at University of London for Master Degree and obtained Ph.D. from University of Sydney, he is currently working as a professor for School of Social Sciences and Psychology, Victoria University, focusing on Indonesian history and politics, Australia-Indonesia relations and Australian foreign policy. Previously, he was the Head of the Department of Asian and International Studies from 1998 to 2001 and Associate Professor and Director the Australia Asia Pacific Institute from 2002 to 2004 at Victoria University. Prior to joining Victoria University, he taught at the University of Indonesia from 1987 to 1992.

Mr. Robert Early (Director of Pacific Language Unit, University of South Pacific, Vanuatu)

Studied Linguistics at Australian National University, Canberra, Australia in Doctoral Degree from 1991 to 1995, he is currently working as the Director of Pacific Language Unit at University of South Pacific, Vanuatu focusing on providing academic leadership and managerial oversight of the activities of the unit, and also undertake research on languages and its issues.  He is also currently a Senior Lecturer in Pacific Languages in the same institution since 1996. Before working as Director of the Unit, he was the Associate Dean for the Faculty of Arts and Law, University of South Pacific from 2008 to 2009.

Mr. Sjoerd Jaarsma (Managing Director of Papua Cultural Heritage Foundation, the Netherlands)

Studied Cultural Anthropology at University of Utrecht from 1975 to 1982 and attained his Ph.D. in Social Sciences at Radboud University Nijmegen in 1990, he is currently working as the Managing Director for Papua Cultural Heritage Foundation (Stichting Papua Cultureel Erfgoed), focusing on research concerning history of ethnographic description of Papua and recently extended to the ethics of anthropological fieldwork. He co-founded the Foundation where he is working today and has been working there since 2003 for various capacities.

Ms. Nancy Jouwe (Artistic Director of Kosmopolis Utrecht, the Netherlands)

Studied gender studies in Utrecht and York (UK) in Master Degree, she is currently working as the artistic director of Kosmopolis Utrecht, focusing on organizing cultural or art events, conferences, workshops and seminars, also on cultural heritage issues. Prior to joining Kosmopolis Utrecht, she was the Director of the Papuan Cultural Heritage Foundation from 2007 to 2010, previously worked in the international development sector, and she has been involved in writing, organizing and public speaking on issues concerning West Papua since 1990s.

Mr. Emmanuel Kasaherou (Director of the Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture – Tjibaou Cultural Centre)

Graduated from Université Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris): DEUG et Licence d’Histoire, Maîtrise, et D.E.A. d’Art et d’Archéologie, he is currently working as the Director of the Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture – Tjibaou Cultural Centre. He is also active in several associations. He is the Executive Board Member of Pacific Islands Museums Association (PIMA); Member and former President of Pacific Arts Association (PAA); Vice-president of Société des Études Mélanésiennes (Noumea); Member of Société des Océanistes (Paris); and Member of ICOM (France). Before his current position, he was the General Director of the Agency for the Development of Kanak Culture– Tjibaou Cultural Centre.

Mr. Masanori Nagaoka (Programme Specialist for Culture, UNESCO Office, Jakarta)

Studied archaeology and art history at the Columbia University in NY, USA in Master Degree from 1997-1999, he is currently working as a Programme Specialist for Culture at the UNESCO Office, Jakarta, focusing on direct assistance to the 5 cluster countries (Brunei Darussalam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Timor-Leste) in contribution to and development of the design of programme and projects in the field of culture. Before joining UNESCO Office Jakarta, he served at the Asia and Pacific unit of the World Heritage Centre at UNESCO headquarters in 2008 and at the UNESCO Office Kabul as a Programme Specialist for Culture from 2004 to 2008.

Mr. Rudolf Nuetzi (Project Manager of Swisscontact – Indonesia WISATA Flores Tourism Development)

Studied at the Zurich University of Applied Sciences Winterthur for Master Degree from 2001 to 2002, he is currently working as the Project Manager focusing on overall project management of the Swiss-Indonesian bilateral project WISATA for development of tourism destination in Flores. Before managing this project, he worked as Head of Programme Asia for Swisscontact Head Office in Zurich from 2001 to 2010 and as Project Manager at Swisscontact-Indonesia from 1996-2000.

Mr. Wulf Schiefenhövel (Professor at University of Munich)

He is currently working as a Professor for Medical Psychology and Ethnomedicine and co-founder of Human Sciences Centre at University of Munich. He is also the head of Human Ethology Group for Max-Planck-Institute Andechs, Germany and teaching human ethology at Universities of Innsbruck, Bucharest and Groningen as guest lecturer. Having an on-going project concerning Melanesia and Indonesia, he is the President of International Society for Human Ethology and former president of German Anthropological Society.

Mr. Jacob L. Simet (Director of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, The Solomon Islands)

Awarded Doctorate of Philosophy (PhD) by Australian National University, Canberra, he is currently the Director of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism, The Solomon Islands. He is also active in several organizations. He is the chairman of Kokoda Trail Development Committee since 1994, the chairman of PNG National Censorship Board since 1997, and a member of PNG National Museum Board of Trustees. He had publications, short stories, poems and legends published in magazines, the newspapers and books on indigenous anthropology, cultural change and performing arts, PNG Traditional Knowledge both locally (PNG) and abroad.

Mr. Charlie D. Heatubun (Lecturer and Chairman of the Task Force for Development of the Wallace Museum of Natural History, the State University of Papua)

Obtained PhD in the Plant Systematics from the Bogor Agricultural University, Bogor, Indonesia and The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, UK.  He is the fellow of the Linnean Society of London (FLS) and a member of the palm specialist group – species survival committee (SSC) of IUCN. His main interests are systematic of the palms family (Arecaceae) and the New Guinea flora.  He was discovered and published several new species and one genus of palm mainly from New Guinea, including the betel nut palm.  The natural history aspects, like uses, local taxonomy, etc. of palms and plants also interested him.